Greater Evasion
by Link 0010
Summary: Chapter seven of my LoTR adventure now. In the chapter The group tailing the Fellowship stumble upon an ainchant city, that contains one of Soaron's oldest and most deadly assassins. (PG-13 due to violence)
1. The Evaders

Hi everyone! This is my first LoTR fic, so don't expect that much, Ok? Took me a while to think up an idea for this one, but I think I've got the whole thing pretty much planned out.

Allright that's actually I lie, this might include a bit of improvising, but I've been a member of ff.net for over a year (under a different name though), so I think that I've pretty much got the gist of how to write these things, I'm not perfect, but I try.

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.

Greater Evasion

 Part one, The not-so-secret meeting

          It was the morning of October 25th, known for the event that was known as the council of Elrond. Where many warriors and leaders met to discuss the best plan of destroying the ring that was carried by Frodo Baggins. It was meant to be a secret meeting, but of course. Nothing was ever secret. The meeting was stealthily watched by three hobbits, known to their friends as Sam, Merry and Pippin. But there were also others concealed.

          They were strangers to the elven world, but they were drawn there after hearing about secret treasures that lay deep in it. They weren't exactly thieves, or at least they didn't think of themselves as thieves. But just a group really. A group made up of two hobbits (Bongo and Drondee templewob), a human (Anomen Redwood), a dwarf (Ulli Runecarver) and a half-elf (Adolphus fell).

          Adolphus, though partly elf, thought little of his elven side and proffered to live amongst men. What little elves he met disapproved of him, and he disliked them.

          Anomen was a renegade, driven out of his homeland of shadowkeep by a gang who he owed large amounts of money to. He had a large scar down his right cheek where one of his enemies attempted (completely drunk), unreasonably attempted murder as a sort of incentive for Anomen to pay him back.

          Ulli was a renegade as well, sent into exile by his clan after he killed his King's son in a drunken brawl. Ulli was in fact the King's nephew as well, so was a family embarrassment as well as a murderer. Ulli could almost live with that.

          A strange tale went with Bongo and Drondee though. They claimed to be following a group of four hobbits – Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. They said that they thought that they went of into nowhere, and that it looked like a good place to go, but they followed.

          As a whole, they seemed an unlikely group, but yet, they were. Formed just a few days ago. When Bongo, Drondee, Adolphus and Anomen all stumbled upon Ulli's fire at different times of the night. Ulli mentioned that he was going to look for legendary treasure in the elf cities, and through greed, gratitude, and pure lust for adventure, the adventurers just found themselves asking to go along with him. So the group was formed, on their way to the city, they tried to think up a name for their own group. The names BAADU (the first letters of their first names), the blades, the invincibals, the ghosts, the wraiths, the 'Ulli's group' all went by as a load of rubbish.

          One day, however, something strange happened. The group were walking through a dense wood. When they heard galloping and unnatural screeching coming from not too far off. Suddenly, about five men on horseback rode into view, all armed.

          Not wishing a fight, the group made an attempt to run for cover, but the horses were unnaturally quick, and soon one of the riders was not a few metres away from them. Anomen was about to break into a run, when he noticed something. They weren't really men. They… might have been once, but not any more. They seemed to be just hooded cloaks. As if an invisible man was wearing one. Seeing that it had no apparent eyes, the thing completely stopped. It appeared to be listening for something. Anomen signalled for the group to freeze. Ulli didn't seem to want to co-operate, but stopped moving as well.

          The thing moved its head around to where the group was.

          "Don't… move…" Anomen whispered.

          After a while the thing screeched, and joined the other ghostly riders in thundering towards a light on the top of a mountain. As they got closer, the light swiftly disappeared, most likely stamped out frantically by somebody not wishing to be seen or sensed by those things. The group watched for a while. They heard the creatures shrieking, then they saw some flaming humanoid bodies flailing around the mountain before either falling down it or collapsing. Either the ghost-creatures or the campers. Either way it wasn't nice to watch.

          The next morning, however, they congratulated each other on their miraculous escape. They called it their skill at evasion – which let to them calling themselves the evaders, in tribute to the day they were almost killed, but not.

          But back to the matter at hand.

          Bongo and Drondee were the ones secretly present at the meeting. The listened with fascinated horror at what the Wizard with the beard had to say, and were even more amazed when the great Dwarven Axe seemed to explode after making contact with the ring. After the meeting they quietly slipped out and sprinted back to the Evader camp a mile away from the city.

          Ulli saw them return.

          "Ah! Hobbits! Looks like you're in a hurry. What? Being chased by some of pretty-boy back there's relatives?" He pointed back over his shoulder to Adolphus. Anomen's laughter came from inside the group's tent. Adolphus scowled.

          "I'm not an elf! You know I'm not! Don't say it. Don't treat me like one. Because I'm not. I'm not an elf."

          Ulli laughed, "So what've you nicked hobbits?"

          "Nothing." Drondee panted, Ulli's grin faded.

          "Elves don't chase you out for nothing!" He boomed, "Surely even a bit of gold!"

          "We weren't chased out!" Said Bongo angrily. The hobbits poured out their experiences at the meeting.

          When they finished the others seemed nothing short of amazed.

          "What? So they made a group to destroy this little item?" Ulli said. "Who was in it?"

          "Well," Drondee began, I think… "Four hobbits."

          Adolphus laughed, Ulli and Anomen tried to stiffen grins as they heard that the fate of the world was being trusted to four hobbits.

          "Three humans," He continued. "One a powerful Wizard.

          "Now we're getting somewhere!" Anomen laughed, Adolphus smiled as well. Ulli looked dissatisfied.

          "A Dwarf!"

          Ulli looked more satisfied now, he grinned broadly, rubbing his hands together.

          "And an elf."

          Adolphus frowned. The other two kept looking at the hobbits, as if they expected more.

          "Yeah, and?" Ulli said.

          "Well, that's it." Drondee said.

          "What?" Said Ulli in disbelief. "Nine people? Hardly a rampaging horde!"

          "That's because it isn't." Bongo said, "It's one of those stealth thingy missions. One where nine adventurers succeed when nine hundred don't, one of those things that requires cunning, speed, evasion, sneaking…"

          He stopped, the other members of the evaders were looking at him in a strange way.

          "Say that again." Adolphus said.

          "Er… Ok. It was one of those missions that require sneaking, cunning, evas… ah. You're serious?"

          "I'd think so." Ulli said, "As you said, it requires evasion."

          "Yeah." Bongo said, "But metaphorically speaking, I didn't mean us."

          "We've got evasion though haven't we?" Drondee said. "We're good at that."

And after that it was settled. The evaders would also travel into the heart of Mordor – like a sort of alternate fellowship. They had no ring to destroy, but if it fell into the wrong hands they could always stop it. They were good at evasion, after all.

But as the group headed into the sunset a few miles South West of the Fellowship of the Ring, they didn't realise something. They weren't that good at evasion really, its just that the ringwraith they met didn't want to kill them, they were after the other group, the group on the mountain. The Group with the ring.

End of part one

Argh! Did I just write that? Sorry, I know it was a load of rubbish, but it should get better so bear with me. I've done massive fics before. One got over 50 reviews. The first one (after chapter one) read 'BOOOOOOOOOOOORING', the latest one (just after reading my tenth chapter) reads 'Literally Genre Busting! This is real quality!'. It shows that I develop my characters. So this might get better. Let's hope. Thanks for reading anyway J


	2. First combat

Hi everyone! This is my first LoTR fic, so don't expect that much, Ok? Took me a while to think up an idea for this one, but I think I've got the whole thing pretty much planned out.

Allright that's actually I lie, this might include a bit of improvising, but I've been a member of ff.net for over a year (under a different name though), so I think that I've pretty much got the gist of how to write these things, I'm not perfect, but I try.

Anyway, I'm up to chapter 2 now. Not bad going really.

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.

Note: I've had one or two people who might want to be a part of the fic, so, either leave me a name to put in, or email me if you want a more detailed character. And put more information in, like whether to kill you off after a while, if you're a good guy or a baddie, what species etc…

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to EL. Don't ask why.

Greater Evasion

Part two, First combat 

"So it was that the evaders went off into the horizon, mainly in good spirits on that fateful evening, but nothing could prepare ourselves for what had come next in the mountains as we attempted to shadow the fellowship of the ring."

From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.

          Ulli Runecarver snarled. It was three days since the evaders had set out on their quest. But so far that elf 'Fell', or whatever he said his family name was, had only succeeded in getting them completely lost in the mountains. They had encountered nothing for days, save the odd deer or stag. No sign of intelligent life at all. He gripped his Axe tightly and ruffled his beard. By all that was holy, it was cold. If he was some weedy elf like Fell (or half-elf, or whatever he claimed to be), he might've collapsed from exhaustion. Not him though. He suddenly felt an icy blast that wracked his bones with numbing pain. He gritted his teeth and looked up. By Vela, no, that elven fool had driven them into to the heart of a blizzard.

          "Allright. Everyone stop!" Fell's voice shouted distantly, despite the fact that they were no more than a metre away from each other. "We'll make camp here!" Ulli thankfully lay down his sack of food and light weapons, but kept hold of his axe. He pushed his helmet over his face to stop the lashing ice from blinding him as he fought to help the others put up the tent.

          When the tent was made, the evaders clambered inside and tried to keep warm. Fell tried to say something to Ulli but the howling of the wind blew his words away.

* * * *

          "Ulli you idiot can't you hear me?" Adolphus Fell yelled. Ulli looked at him in a puzzled way, and indicated that he could hear nothing due to the wind.

          "You must be able to hear me Ulli! One of the tent pegs has come loose I think. I'll just go out and put it back" He clambered up and ran out to find the rogue tent peg.

          Outside, Adolphus could see that the blizzard had got far worse. His skin was stung by the snow that lashed all around him, the wind threatened to deafen him. Never had he seen such a ting before. 'Sorcery'. He thought. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. He gasped in utter shock. If this mountain had it bad, he dreaded to think about the other one.

          It was as if the blizzard was hanging over the other mountain. The power it generated seemed to be pulling the mountain apart, or at least creating a full-scale avalanche. He dreaded to think what would happen to anyone on that mountain.

          "Foul sorcery indeed." He muttered. But he couldn't think why any wizard might want to destroy the tranquillity on that mountain. Unless there was an annoying band of adventurers of rampaging horde of goblins, or…" He suddenly felt very sick. Of course! The fellowship must've been on the mountain. That's why a wizard might've tried to destroy it. He ran to the tent.

          "Ulli!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, so loud that he could even hear himself over the blizzard. "Anomen! Bongo! Drondee! Come on! Something terrible's happened!"

          The tent flap was thrown up and the evaders crawled out. Weapons drawn. Ulli Runecarver stared at the collapsing snow on the mountain.

          "Hell's teeth, what dishonourable magics doomed the tranquillity on that mountain?" Ulli snarled. He picked up his huge double-sided battle-axe. The Dwarven Runes that Ulli had carved into it in his days when he wasn't exiled glowed brightly. Adolphus Fell could see that meant that magic was at work here from the Rune Axe's radiant light. Ulli growled and effortlessly sliced his Axe through the air. "Come out little wizard!" He bellowed, "My axe thirsts!"

          The mountain continued to collapse for a few minutes. Then, all of a sudden. It stopped. The blizzard around them stopped. If it was not for the devastating scene in front of them, the mountain range would've appeared completely normal. Untouched by the blizzard. For a minute, the evaders just stared. Fell, looked around. The evaders had different ways of showing their shock. The hobbits, bongo and Drondee were shivering with fear and their eyes darted around nervously. Anomen Redwood had his fists clenched, he was staring icily at the devastated mountain. He looked strangely neat. His brown hair and goatee beard and his stubbly moustache were tidy and undisturbed. His silvery armour looked as shiny and as bright as ever, as was his single bronze earring. His one-handed studded warhammer caught the sun's rays and brightly reflected them, still hanging from his side in its sheath. Ulli Runecarver was different. He tightly gripped his axe. His beard was white with the snow caught in it. His splint mail armour was dulled. Although his facial expression seemed much the same as Anomen's. He appeared to be in deep thought.

* * * *

          Anomen Redwood finished staring at the mountain, contemplating what fate had befallen the fellowship of the Ring. He shook his head and in one swift movement, one-handily pulled his warhammer out of it caught it and span it around his finger before he assumed a tight grip on it. He sadly remembered the school where he had learnt to fight. In the city where he was forced to flee from. Seeing this. Ulli Runecarver waved his Axe around even more to show his was ready for anything, and Adolphus Fell drew his sword even quicker than Anomen had drawn his hammer. Perhaps to show that he was just as good as him. Perhaps not. Bongo and Drondee Templewob nervously drew their short swords as well. Anomen had his doubts about letting them fight.

          "Right." He said. "Let's go. We head towards the mountain."

          "Or what's left of it." Ulli muttered.

          An hour later, it was getting dark. Anomen decided that they had better find shelter. And soon. It wasn't worth travelling into the night. It would've just complicated things. And made them too tired for when (or if) any chance for combat arrived. Half an hour on, he saw something.

          "What's that?" He called to the others.

          "Looks like a cave." Fell answered. The evaders stopped.

          "Well." Anomen said. "How about it?" It seemed like the ideal place to set up camp.

          It was swiftly agreed that the cave would make their camp for the night. They all clambered in. What happened then made them all a lot more wary.

          The runes on Ulli's axe burst into light. This did two things. Firstly, it warned them that unnaturally dark magic was at work. But it was suspected that it was the far off Wizard trying to further stop the fellowship's progress. But secondly, it illuminated the entire cave.

          Anomen gasped. It was almost one of natures wonders. The thing was massive. Three metre long stalactites hung down from the ceiling and stalagmite's of a similar length protruded up from the floor. Natural tunnels led into the darkness. Despite the urge to explore, it was agreed that they'd make camp in the main part of the cave.

* * * *

     Drondee Templewob woke to strange sounds in the night. The axe that lay be Ulli's sleeping form grew brighter. Drondee got up and listened. If he trusted his sense of hearing. He could've sworn that he heard on oddly high voice moaning.

     "Sooooooo cold…"

     Drondee almost screamed in terror and kicked every one of the evaders until they awoke.

     "What?" Said Ulli.

     "There's… something… there…" Ulli snatched up his Axe.

     "What is it hobbit?"

     Fell listened. Although he hated to admit it, being a half-elf had its advantages. He could hear the moaning quite well. Being a Dwarf, so could Ulli.

     "Magically given voice." Fell said. "Whatever that thing is, it can't speak without magic, perhaps it can't even exist without it."

     Suddenly. The moaning stopped. Drondee heard a faint rattling. Then something that sounded like a very light person walking towards them. They had scrapey footsteps, like somebody walking on dry leaves. The creature then said something. It echoed into the large section of the cave where the evaders were. It was clear that the thing was in the tunnels.

     "Wait… Yes… So warm… So much flesh… so warm…"

     Ulli snarled and gripped his Axe. Anomen and Adolphus drew their weapons in the lightning-fast ways they'd done before.

     "So… That… thing… was originally cold, now its near us its warm, it doesn't have flesh, its voice is magical and it doesn't seem to have much of a choice whether it lives or not…"

     "Animated skeleton." Fell said simply. "It makes perfect sense."

     After Drondee realised what an animated skeleton was, he realised that, like Adolphus Fell had said, very logical. The thing was cold and had a magical voice – that seemed right as it had no flesh and it had no way of speaking normally as its vocal systems were long gone. Also it didn't seem too happy. Well, he wouldn't be happy if his eternal rest was disturbed by  vile sorcery. Causing him to walk the Earth in a completely different state than when he left it. It wasn't much of a life – or much of an undeath, he thought. Being neither living or dead didn't seem too appealing to him.

     Suddenly the thing emerged from the gloom. It was hunched over but its head was looking up at them. The grinning skull was almost taunting. It scraped along the floor in painfully short steps. Its ribcage rattled. The brainless thing seemed oblivious to the fact that it was walking towards its second death.

     Despite the pathetic slowness of the creature, Drondee could see that its effect alone had done damage. Bongo seemed paralyzed with fear, fell and Anomen had white fear-filled faces. Even Ulli looked disturbed. As it got closer, he could hear the creature make a talking to itself.

     "Tonight we will dance." It said, "Dance and rub. Dance and rub and Sing. Dance and rub and sing and eat."

     Ulli flexed his Axe. With a swift motion the skeleton launched itself forwards and Bongo. The hobbit screamed and leapt back, flailing his sword. The creature launched its hands towards him. With one last desperate action, Bongo lashed out. Luck was on his side, and he cleanly separated the things skeletal hands from its arms. The skeleton stopped automatically, then tried to bludgeon Bongo with what was left of his arms. With legendary hobbit-speed, Bongo clambered back. Ulli waved his axe and in one second crushed the creatures rib cage with his axe. Adolphus' blade took off the skeleton's legs and before it had hit the ground, Anomen had crushed in its skull with his hammer. The magic holding together what little was left of the thing's bone joints seemed to cease once the head had been destroyed, and the thing collapsed entirely.

     "This place is cursed." Muttered Ulli. "We must leave at once." They turned around and nervously made for the cave entrance leading out. Drondee noticed a definite drop in the temperature. He shivered and pulled his cloak around him. Or maybe it was just the fear.

     But as they neared the entrance, they noticed something standing in front of it. The evaders stopped and stared at the new threat.

     "It was twice as tall as Adolphus Fell, and Twice as well built as Ulli Runecarver. Drondee supposed that the thing had once been human, but had grown to be much more than one. Or much less. It was garbed head to foot in black plate mail. The helmet was as black as the armour and despite the untidy makeshift visor of chainmail draped from the bottom of the helmet. The hobbit could tell that the face behind it was skeletal. Its eyes glowed bright green. In one hand it held an incredibly large two-handed sword, black like the armour. When it spoke, its voice came out like there were three speaking, it echoed around the cave. It was deep, yet high like the skeletons at the same time.

     "Greetings adventurers. I am Krell." The thing spoke. "Thousands of years ago I served the dark master of the ring. Now I have arisen, as soon he will. I have waited Eons for this. Now… Now I am stronger than I ever was!"

     "You defiantly smell that way!" Ulli boomed suddenly. The thing's green eyes settled on the Dwarf.

     "Dwarf. One defiant moment will cost you an eternity in suffering. Once you have been slain I will devour your soul. Then you will know the true meaning of pain."

     "Right now I'm learning the true meaning of boredom!" Ulli said casually, "Do you intend to prattle on all day or how about you come over here and die?" He brandished his axe.

     "Normally I would slay you where I stand, but in my undeath… My greater force, I have learnt that not everyone has the right to fight me. You will all surely die. But be it by my hand is a different matter."

     "What do you mean, grave-scum?" Ulli said. Drondee had no idea just how mad this Dwarf was.

     "Rest assured that you will not be able to leave here until you get past me." Krell continued calmly. "However I will give my minions a sporting chance first." As he spoke, the entrance caved in. Krell didn't even blink at his power. That is if he could blink. Drondee felt sick. They were trapped. "I see…" He looked at the scattering of the skeleton's bones, "That you have met my personal army that I trained up when I was mortal. They were buried with me after the great Lord was defeated by the Alliance of Elves and Men, we were sealed in this tomb, but I have broken free as my master's power grows strong. Yes… I see that Barr-rrhh is no longer with me. He was from the distant corners of middle Earth, hence his impenetrable name. He seemed willing to join me when mortal. Less willing when I raised him but he did my bidding… He needed to kill you if he wants to keep his soul so he needs to devour yours, it nourishes his own. I believe that my minions rub out your souls and eat them, then they celebrate. But I do not care. Barr-rrhh evidently failed but others may succeed. You see, there is another exit deep in the cave. To get there, you will have to fight through my skeleton legions, solve puzzles, dodge traps and then kill me, of course. I hate to destroy all thoughts of helplessness, and I do like a little game. It will end my way in the end though." Echoey laughter rang around the room. Drondee realised the meaning of the words that Krell's skeleton had said. Of course, it wanted to rub out their souls and eat it. The celebrations would account for the dancing and singing.

     "Anyway, I digress." Krell said almost politely, "I must leave you now. Most likely we will never meet again, but on the off-chance that you will get to me. I may see you later." Andd with that, Krell faded into thin air.

     Ulli roared out a Dwarven curse at Krell. The hobbits sat down, dejected.

     "Well." Said Bongo. "This is the end."

     "Shut up, hobbits!" Ulli roared. "We can get out of this one. We know that we are an able band. We can do this."

     Although the Dwarfs point seemed a forlorn hope. The other group members looked up at him in respect. This was a Dwarf that feared nothing.

     Suddenly. The moaning started again. But from much more voices.

     "SOOO COLD!" Shaped were appearing from the gloom. Many clutched rusty weapons and wore tattered armour. The evaders formed a circle. They were surrounded but they wouldn't give in.

     "This is it lads." Ulli shouted. "The coming of the storm."

END OF PART 2

Hmm, that didn't go very well. But I think I'm beginning to realise who I'm writing about. They're not a bunch of improvised strangers any more. Ah well. Try to R&R please. Thanks.


	3. Eyes of Krell

Well, I'm up to chapter 3 now. I haven't had many reviews, but it doesn't really matter. So far what I've heard was all good. (I'm talking for a while here, so I recommend that you begin reading the chapter and skip my mutterings).

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.

Note: Right. This is a bit embarrassing… I'm afraid that I won't be able to include anyone in this chapter despite me saying so due to the circumstances that the chapter starts (In the middle of a cave surrounded by undead. Not a great place to meet people). But believe me, I will include people at the first available chance.

Dedication: To William King, for all the inspiration.

Inspiration: I've just realised that my fic would be non-existent if it wasn't for certain things that had inspired me. First and foremost, I get ideas from books I once read by a bloke called William (or Bill) King. Ulli the Dwarf is based on Gotrek Gurnisson from his book. Adolphus Fell is loosely based on Felix Jaeger. Also, Anomen is inspired by a person of the same name in a Pc game called Baldur's Gate II. Krell is based on a creature created by my friend that he wears printed on his shirt when he goes to his Heavy Metal gigs. I know strange people. Ah well. The beginning of chapter 3 is based on the film 'the mummy' (well, the massacre of shambling undead anyway). Well, anyway, here's chapter three. R&R. Thanks.

Greater Evasion

Part three, Eyes of Krell 

"I vividly remember that exact moment when Krell faded away and the intense feeling of despair that I felt. But there was no time to rest before our ordeal, as Krell's legions approached the evaders. It was the first time in my life that I believed that I wouldn't live to see sunlight again."

From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.

          Ulli Runecarver gripped his axe tightly and laughed. Adolphus Fell and Anomen Redwood didn't laugh, but didn't seem to have to same faces full of despair that were worn by Bongo and Drondee Templewob. Their utter terror wasn't surprising, considering what they faced.

          Before them shambled almost thirty or so skeletons. These things were raised by the Undead Lord Krell from his previous army. Ulli almost felt a prang of sadness as he thought of those warriors pulled from their tombs to serve their master once more. However now they were cruel mockeries of men. Created only by dark magic. The dwarf snarled, Krell was undisputedly evil. By raising his army he robbed his warriors of all of their former honour. Ulli knew that this was a terrible thing. Sending the creatures crashing down to earth again was pretty much the most merciful thing to do. The protection runes carved onto his axe glowed so much they were almost blinding. The horde was nearly upon them now. Unlike most undead, these creatures insanely muttered to themselves. Ulli tried to block out the sound of their ravings.

          He looked at the apparent leader of the skeletons. Perhaps Krell's Lieutenant in his mortal days, this thing defiantly seemed to have status amongst the other undead. Unlike the others it wore sagging scraps of chainmail armour and a wide brimmed steel helmet, like Krell, the thing's eyes glowed a hellish green. A longsword was in a sheath by its side. In its hand, however, it held a small violin-type instrument. It pranced around tauntingly, playing a fast, yet haunting tune. Ulli felt his senses dulled by the music. He decided to act quickly.

          "Die, foul Demon!" He yelled and jumped at the leader. He landed in front of it and swung his axe. Still playing its instrument, the skeletal creature jumped out of the weapon's path with incredible speed. A path seemed to form through the mass of skeletons and the undead musician-leader danced and played straight to the back of the group of skeletons. Ulli charged after it, but the gap soon closed. Ulli felt damp blood on him as the skeletons surrounded him and clawed at his flesh. The mass of bones around him was so tight that Ulli had no room to swing his axe. With a snarl, he smashed a gauntleted hand into the face of a skeleton, turning the things skull to powder. He kicked out his foot, taking off the shins of another. The disabled skeleton gripped his feet tightly. Ulli felt pain and cut after cut appeared on his body. The Dwarf was a mighty warrior, but his recklessness of trying to catch the leader seemed to be his downfall. Still, lashing out, Ulli's vision slowly went black.

* * * *

          Adolphus Fell watched in horror as his Dwarven companion was swamped by the skeletal legions. He knew that the Dwarf was incredibly strong and resistant to pain and death, but sheer weight of numbers could destroy anything, there were so many creatures in the swarm that they had lost sight of Ulli. Fell looked over at his companions, the hobbits seemed rooted to the spot with fear. It was up to him and Anomen to save the day. He gestured to his companion, and both of them hurled themselves into the maelstrom of carnage.

          Fell's sword flickered through the air. Anomen's warhammer smashed across in massive arcs. Severed and splintered bones flew all around them as the skeletons were decimated. A faint squeal behind them indicated that the hobbits had overcome their fear and had dived into the fray. To their credit, the hobbits were both nimble and strangely good with their weapons. And soon they had cut a swath through the skeletons and uncovered Ulli.

          The great Dwarf was alive. Barely. His axe was still clenched in his hand. Blood flowed free over his body. He bled from virtually hundreds of cuts and gashes. His eyes flickered open. He slowly got to his feet and surveyed the carnage around him. He managed a laugh.

          "Call that a fight?" He boomed, "I've had more dangerous haircuts!"

          Fell started to laugh, and was cut short when the skeleton leader sliced its sword towards his head. Instinctively, Fell parried the blow and thrust his own sword out at the creature. With alarming speed, the thing parried, used its sword to twist Fell's own away, and slashed out again. Fell dodged, and swung out with all his might, their swords connected and the sheer force drove the hand off the skeleton. Fell spinned his blade and tried to finish the thing with short, sharp jabs. The thing dodged his attacks again and again. Fell gasped as the severed hand of the creature crawled along towards it, the thing effortlessly picked it up and with a flash of purple light, the hand was connected again, still holding the sword. In one swift movement it sheathed its sword, picked up its instrument and danced back. As it played, what was left of the horde re-animated. Many were beyond repair, but with flashes of purple light, arms linked to shoulders, legs linked to hips, and heads linked to necks. In seconds, half the skeleton hoard crawled to its feet. The other half were beyond repair and their remains lay still, dead for the last time.

          Even so, the resurrected hoard, now entering their third lives, looked bad. Many of them had missing limbs. Many had only half a hip. One skeleton was teetering around as it had no ribcage, and its shoulders were balanced only on its spine. Fell remembered slicing out the skeleton's ribs.

          "Right." Ulli said, "Get them. Again."

* * * *

     Bongo Templewob ducked the flailing arms of the skeleton warrior. Looking up, he saw that the thing only had half a skull, evidently it was caved in by one of the evaders. The thing wasn't armed, but after seeing the state of Ulli the hobbit knew well to keep well out of reach. The undead minion once again leapt forwards into Bongo. Terrified, Bongo lashed out. His shortsword struck the skeleton. Bones splintered. Still the thing kept going. Panicking, Bongo launched himself at the skeleton. The creature carried an unearthly strength, but was so frail and thin that it was knocked off-balance by the hobbit. The thing crashed into the ground, shattering to pieces. Bongo had barely got up when another skeleton, one with no ribcage jumped at him, wobbling horribly. Bongo neatly sliced its skull from its neck. The head flew up, spinning around, before landing on the things bony shoulders and with a flash of purple, the things head was back where it was meant to be. But the reappearance of the head seemed too much for the skeleton. With a horrible cracking sound its spine bent right over and cracked. At this, the entire thing fell apart. Bongo almost heard a sigh of relief come from the bones, as the spirit of the warrior trapped inside his own skeleton was finally released of the curse.

     Looking around, Bongo was happy to see that the skeletal army had been 'laid to rest', as Ulli, Anomen and Adolphus had careered through it. Only the leader remained. It seemed uncaring to the carnage around it. It cackled manically.

     "Ah. Flesh-creature. So much flesh. Yes. Tonight we will feast. Feast upon the souls of the living."

     "I've just about had enough of you!" Ulli roared, and sprinted towards the leader. The thing drew its sword and stood completely still. At the last moment, when Ulli raised his axe. The thing moved. Quicker than the eye could follow, the creature danced around Ulli, its sword glittered off the small amount of light in the cave that was most likely caused by the things glowing green eyes. The thing was so fast, that the gashed caused by its sword on Ulli simply seemed to appear. Almost bellowing with pain, Ulli spun around with his axe. Bongo heard a cracking sound and suddenly the blur around Ulli stopped. The skeleton leader wobbled around, half of its ribs missing, a strange grating sound was coming out of its mouth. Seizing his chance, Anomen Redwood rushed forward and smashed the things skull with its axe. The glowing light abruptly stopped. The cave was plunged into total darkness.

     Suddenly there was light again. White light. Bongo almost screamed, rising out of the skeleton's bones was some sort of transparent man. He was wearing full plate armour, like the skeleton's, but less decomposed. The sword he carried also matched the one carried by the undead creature. It took Bongo a little while to notice it, but it soon became clear. _This was his ghost_.

     _"I thank you," _The ghost said, in an oddly Echoey voice that reminded the hobbit of a radiant glow. _"My name is Faust. Please understand that I mean you no harm. The pitiful thing that you destroyed was the remains of myself. In life, I was one of Krell's main advisors. But it went too far when Krell declared his allegiance to a mysterious Warlord who had forged a ring in which he used to attempt utter domination of Middle Earth. Myself and my regiment were amongst the few that turned against him, what he was doing was terrible. He ordered myself and all of my troops to be buried alive in these caves. We were raised as mindless abominations only a few months ago to serve him in undeath. Please understand that we had no say in this. He used our bodies and infected our souls. Creating an army of warriors with sworn loyalty to him. Now you have freed us, but I sense that Krell still roams these dungeons. Many of his advisors helped him in his foul crusade in life, and he has rewarded them by granting them immense powers. Many of them have left their bones behind and their souls have warped them into things more powerful. I beseech you to rid the land of Krell. If he lives on, Middle Earth will surely fall. Thank you._

     With one final sigh of relief, the ghost faded away, freed from his curse. Ulli muttered a prayer in dwarfish. He later told the evaders that the word Faust was Dwarven for 'destroyer'. The ghost was surely a good warrior.

* * * *

     Five hours later, the evaders were walking down a tight passageway in the cave, weapons drawn. Drondee led the group, carrying his lantern. They stopped as they entered a large room.

     Drondee Templewob gasped in utter shock. This was an actual room, carved from the rock, unearthly light lit the room and there was a large table. There were plates, knifes, forks, glasses and a deep crimson tablecloth over it. Sitting at the table were twenty or so skeletons. Rigid, with no signs of life… or unlife, a it were. At the foot of the table there was a large throne-like chair. Sitting in it was a suit of plate armour with no apparent occupant. It was dull black. The helmet had two small metal wings at the sides. Dragon wings.

     _"We were loyal." _A high, shrill voice suddenly echoed from around them, _"Faust defied our master. We didn't. We did his exact bidding. My group were his prize bodyguard. I was their leader. I still am. My name is Rerhear. Lord Krell treated me like a son. He raised Faust and his legion as mere skeletons with no mind. They deserved nothing more. My master told us that we were granted a safe chance in afterlife. And far more power. We died at this table, we awaited death. We embraced it. You can forget about the bodies of my minions. They were bestowed a much better future. They fuelled me. The fuelled me with their souls. I am now more powerful than I ever could have been. Die, mortals."_

     Not unlike when Faust's spirit was being released from his bones, Rerhear's seemed to be pouring out of the black armour. Only it was grey, not white. The swirl erupted into a cyclone. In the rings of grey mist, Drondee could see a humanoid creature writhing around inside it. It uttered a blood-curdling scream and most of the mists parted. With now just a small veil over it, the hobbit could see the features of a young man. He was bald, and wore rich-clothes of the fashion that hadn't been used since… well, thousands of years ago. The thing glowed a fait purple, but with the green eyes that Faust had. The eyes of Krell.

     Suddenly, the spectre moved its hands and a large pink vortex appeared from it. Like a waterfall, the power erupted from its arms. Suddenly Drondee understood why Rerhear had talked of his soldiers fuelling his powers. Inside the whirlpool of power heading towards them. The hobbit could see about twenty faces staring at him. They had the look of intense agony on their faces.

     "I know this spell!" Anomen said suddenly, "Its called soul drain, its sucks the life out of whoever it hits."

     'I am going to die.' Drondee thought as the life-sapping spell headed towards him.

END OF PART III

Ah, the end of another chapter. I really enjoy writing this fic. Might get a bit too violent though. Ah well. R&R. Thanks for reading.


	4. ChronoNaut

On I go, to chapter 4 now. I haven't had a review since the first chapter but I don't care cos this is one fic that I really enjoy writing. Chapter four is called Chrononaut, which is rough Latin for time walker. You'll see why.

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.

Note: Right. This is a bit embarrassing… I'm afraid that I won't be able to include anyone in this chapter despite me saying so due to the circumstances that the chapter starts (In the middle of a cave surrounded by undead. Not a great place to meet people). But believe me, I will include people at the first available chance.

Dedication: My best friend Steve.

Seeing as chapter three in this was described in an email as 'ultraviolent' I decided to up the rating to PG-13

Greater Evasion

Part IV, Chrononaut 

"Rerhear was one of Krell's most loyal and trusted advisors. Even in death he seemed determined to end our lives. His warriors had unshaken loyalty to him as well. They gave their souls to him, to fuel his magic. Doing this subjected them to eternal torture. It is beyond me how any warriors could show such fanaticalism."

From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.

          Drondee Templewob screamed as the Soul Drain burst headed towards him. Fear rooted him to the spot. He couldn't move a muscle. His cry turned to a whimper as he closed his eyes. Awaiting age-long torment as his soul and life was ripped from his body. Suddenly a large weight forced himself to fly over and hit the ground. Opened his eyes, Anomen Redwood had dived on him to throw him aside. Drondee grinned his thanks at the human. Anomen replied with a nod. He scrambled up.

          Above him, the floating ethereal form of Rerhear  laughed down mockingly.

          _"You dare to defy me mortals? Like my master, undeath has given me power beyond any human understanding. But I am more than a human."_

"Rubbish!" Ulli Runecarver shouted up at him, "Your less than one." At this, the ghost's face contorted into a sour look. With a hiss, it flew at them. Drondee could see that it had long fangs. He shuddered, was this thing a vampire even before he was resurrected as the spectre he was now by Krell? He hurled himself aside as the creature flew around them, drawing his sword. Not that it would do much against that thing.

          Ulli didn't move. He laughed and swished his Axe around. As the creature dived at him, he drove his weapon downwards into it. Rerhear uttered a wail and his entire form rippled. Drondee's heart leapt, was this thing vulnerable to normal weapons? His hope was dispelled as Bongo slices the ghost. The weapon passed through it. When the hobbit though about it, it made sense, Ulli's weapon was carved with Dwarven runes of warding, meaning that it could hurt anything. The weapons of everyone else were only plain steel or Iron, not capable of doing such damage, the only metal capable of doing this without enchantment was mithril, and that was a closely guarded metal owned by the elves.

          Shaken but not brought down by the axe, the undead Lord rose into the air. Drondee could see that, through the mists surrounding him that a large gash had formed in the ghost, but despite its wound, the creature's eyes still blazed. He decided that the best thing to do was hide. He ran over to the table in the centre of the room. Behind him he heard Rerhear dive down at Ulli again. He heard the axe slice through thin air. Evidently to creature was forced to dodge Ulli's swing.

          Drondee suddenly caught sight of the throne. Inside it sat a suit of black armour. Drondee leapt on the throne, desperate to hide from the spectre. He threw the armour aside, it clattered to the floor. He heard another his as the creature noticed what happened to the armour. Drondee clambered onto it. Only the helmet remained on it. Realising that it was made to last, Drondee jammed it on his head as extra protection.

          But something happened. Normally the helmet would have been far too large for the hobbit. But as soon as he put it on it seemed to grip into his head. He screamed as he felt his head get almost crushed. The agony was terrible. He saw a silky white substance twirl out of his mouth. It formulated into a ghostly double of him, writhing in mists just like Rerhear did. He saw it stop its agonising actions, then dived back into his mouth. The agony still wracked his body. He felt his vision cloud up in pain. He was about to lose consciousness from the pain when it suddenly stopped. He gasped out, rubbing the tears of agony from his eyes. When he could see again, he almost fainted from shock.

          The hobbit didn't wake up where he had left off. He was in the same room, he could tell, but it was different.

          He was till sitting in the throne. But the room looked a lot less old. The skeletons that were at the table weren't skeletons. They were bodies of men. They all looked immensely old, and were sitting back on their chairs, lifeless. Each body was in exactly the same position that the skeletons they saw had. There was food on the plates, and wine in the glasses, compared to the empty plates and glasses that he had seen a minute ago. A scream behind him made him whirl around.

          A few metres off the ground floated a young man. He was glaring at him. He was fully protected in the same black armour that had sat in the throne, a large gash in his side dripped blood. Below him, a group a lights walked in painfully slow motion. On closer inspection they were roughly humanoid in shape. Although the area of his vision around them seemed to be separated by a gauzy film. One held an axe that wasn't a bright light, but looked normal, like it belonged here. Drondee's heart skipped a beat in shock as he realised what had happened. The bright lights were the evaders, the floating man was Rerhear when he was alive, the dead bodies were the skeletons, the helmet had transported him back three thousand years. He was caught in a battle that was fought between time. Ulli's axe was visible to him because it was magical enough to break through the time barrier, causing it to exist even in this time. That is why it could hurt Rerhear.

* * * *

      Ulli Runecarver was shocked by what just happened. To him, it looked like Drondee the hobbit had just died and turned into a ghost. Their enemy snarled in fury.

     _"NO!" _It shrieked, _"No! Go! Go back! Back to your time! Leave my presence hobbit! Go!_

     Ulli was impressed. If what the ghost said was true, then Drondee had just travelled back through time, entering the age that Rerhear was in. Which meant that Rerhear had fought this battle three thousand years ago. But they were fighting him now… Ulli's head hurt. The power granted to Rerhear was great. It had allowed him to cause a terminal paradox and destroy time. Rerhear wasn't really undead, he was fighting the battle in his own age. Ulli shuddered to think how much power Krell himself would have if just one of his servants had this much power.

* * * *

     Drondee drew his sword again. A thought struck him. If he was in Rerhear's time, he could hurt Rerhear. He jumped off the throne and ran at the Wizard. Growling, the now mortal enemy threw heavy punched in the air. He saw strange fish shaped objects fly out of him each time he punched, the fists turned a blinding white as they breached the time barrier. He saw them repeatedly strike the shape that was Ulli and pummel him to the ground. He turned on Drondee.

     "Now for you." He said calmly in a voice that was more real but just as cold. He dived down and landed with a thud on the ground in front of Drondee. With one swift movement, he aimed a massive punch at the hobbit. A massive hand in a black gauntlet struck him. Drondee screamed as he felt boned break. He smashed into the ground. The warrior-wizard walked up to him. He could see the light of the evaders flitting behind him and through him. They were evidently trying to hold him back. Pretty useless, considering that they were trying to do something over three-thousand years after it happened.

     "This is where it ends." Rerhear said, chuckling through his helmet, he raised a large foot, ready to crush Drondee's body when a voice behind him boomed;

     _"Oi! I haven't finished with you yet!"_ The next thing Drondee saw was an axe that had suddenly appeared through Rerhear's body. The man looked down. Blood fell out of his mouth as he spoke.

     "Killed." He said. "I was killed, by something that hasn't happened yet, and won't happen for another three thousand years. It hasn't happened yet, but it has as well. Am I dead?"

     'Seems so.' Thought Drondee as the black-armoured man toppled back and landed with a crash on the hard stone floor.

     Drondee was happy at this, but less happy at the fact that he was still stuck in the past. He desperately tugged at the helmet. His heart sank when it wouldn't budge. He pulled harder, he tried to wedge it off with his sword. He stopped when the agonising pain of his broken arm stopped him. A white shape walked up to him.

     _"Here, Hobbit, allow me."_

     Drondee wasn't sure if it was Ulli's immense strength, or the fact that he was in a different time, but the helmet seemed to slide off. Drondee smiled weakly as the world melted away.

* * * *

          Adolphus Fell looked shook his head in disbelief as the hobbit turned mortal again and opened his eyes. He clambered to his feet.

          "Hey…" He said, "Wha… what? My arm, it was almost completely crushed…"

          Ulli laughed. "Hobbit. Your arm has had over three-thousand years to heal. It should be Allright now, wouldn't you say?"

          The hobbit nodded weakly. Bongo Templewob beamed. The others smiled.

          "I can hardly believe that happened." Anomen said, "It went against every unspoken law of the world."

          "Against nature." Bongo added.

          "Unfathomable." Fell said. The others looked at him in a strange way. "Unfathomable… it's a word!" Fell glared back.

          _"Yes."_ Said a voice suddenly, _"And unfathomable is a word that would best describe it. Rerhear dappled with powers that even I could not understand."_

Bongo and Drondee backed away. The throne had a new occupant. He was incredible tall and well build, his armour was tattered, he carried a large sword, what little they could see of him was bone. His bright green eyes glared from behind the chainmail veil crudely strapped to his helmet. A sword lay on the table, glittering in the unearthly light. They had seen the warrior once before. He was the undead Lord Krell.

          _"Such power, as you can see, brought his downfall. However. I have seen that letting you leave this room would only delay the inevitable – you are indeed strong. I do not wish to loose another of my loyal minions. I have decided to meet you before you destroy my entire army. Think of this as the final chapter in a book. Evaders, your tale is about to end. And let me assure you, I am in your time. I am not three millennia back like my servant. I am here. And you will die."_

And with that, Krell rose off his chair, picked up his sword and walked confidently towards the evaders.

END OF PART IV 

            I'm not sure why I wrote that, it confuses me, and I'm the author! Anyway, I'm getting tired of the dungeons of Krell, so let's get this over with, expect a short chapter next, about as long as this one. Bye for now!

Link


	5. Do or Die

Ok, chapter 5. I've decided to get out of my 'Krell' part of my fic, so here is the finale of a short story that has been built up with three chapters (the first one didn't include him).

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.

Note: Right. This is a bit embarrassing… I'm afraid that I won't be able to include anyone in this chapter despite me saying so due to the circumstances that the chapter starts (In the middle of a cave surrounded by undead. Not a great place to meet people). But believe me, I will include people at the first available chance.

Dedication: Somebody who's name will not be disclosed.

Greater Evasion

Part V, Do or Die 

"We were not exactly sure how we stumbled upon the lair of Krell. And to this day I can't fathom out just what Krell could've been capable of. His minions used their powers of undeath to use foul magics, like Rerhear, who destroyed all logic and time for a short time as we fought him in a fight that lasted both three-thousand years and half an hour. But Krell channelled every drop of his magic into his strength and abilities. At the time, it seemed good, but now, I simply can't see how we survived."

From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.

          Adolphus Fell found it hard to concentrate. Since birth he had had complete knowledge of what was going on around him, and was aware to every sound. It was an elven trait, something that he wasn't proud of, but a useful trick. However, here, for once in his life, he could not keep his mind focused.

          Anomen Redwood also had the same problem. Sweat dripped from his brow. All of a sudden his Warhammer and his Armour was heavy. His Goatee beard itched for the first time in its long history.

          Bongo Templewob was petrified, he slowly crumpled to the ground, whimpering.

          Drondee Templewob, was rigid, literally paralyzed with what he saw.

          Ulli Runecarver gripped his axe and snarled. He suddenly felt a strange tingle all over his body. It was a sensation that he had never felt before. It was fear.

          It wasn't really surprising, facing them was one of the greatest allies of the former bearer of the ring. His name was Krell. Imprisoned in this cave for thousands of years, Krell had grown strong in his short undeath. Strong beyond human imaginations. He was almost skeletal, but what little flesh he had was rock-hard muscle. His armour was tattered, his sword and helmet were dulled, but he was the single-greatest creature that walked Middle Earth at the time… and he would be for as long as the Fellowship held the ring. When that happened, Krell would join his master, and Middle Earth would be shrouded in darkness. Forever.

          With a roar, Ulli suddenly snapped out of his fear, and rushed towards Krell, axe raised. Krell merely laughed, twitched one armoured finger, and Ulli froze in mid-step. He twitched his finger back again, and the Dwarf flew back and smashed into the wall behind him.

          _"I admire your strength, mortals, I admire  your courage." _The undead Lord said, _"I will grant you a quick death, but if you wish to continue defying me, then I suggest you watch closely at this demonstration."_

          He held out his left hand, immediately, one of the skeletons rose from the table and floated two metres in the air. 

            _"This man has been dead for over three millennia," _Krell continued, _"He has no flesh at all, he has only bone."_

          Krell clenched his fist. The skeleton started convulsing, its entire body shook, cracking sounds came from its mouth, its head was vibrating more than the rest of its body, with a strange snarl that Krell had never shown before, as he had never shown anger, the skeleton was smashed in the ground with a force that made bones fly everywhere. The turned to the Evaders. His green eyes shone even brighter.

          _"You see, mortals, you see? That man has been dead for thousands of years. I caused him so much pain he screamed. Yet he has no nerves to feel the main, no flesh to be hurt, no vocal chords to scream with AND YET HE FELT PAIN, HE MANAGED TO SCREAM, THE PAIN WAS THAT INTENSE THAT IT BROKE ALL LAWS OF NATURE! DO YOU WANT TO SUFFER THAT? DO YOU?"_

          "No…" Drondee squeaked. Ulli glared at him.

          _"You cannot survive, there is no way possible."_

"Prepare to be sent back to the pit!" Ulli roared and ran towards him.

          _"Very well Dwarf, I will humour you."_

Ulli slammed his axe downwards. Effortlessly, Krell parried, then, faster than the eye could follow, he hooked his sword under the Dwarf's axe. He lifted Ulli into the air and held him near to his face.

          _"I am not hear to play games, dwarf. I have had enough. Prepare to die."_

He let go of Ulli. But the dwarf still floated in the air. Krell began to clench his fists, a look of extreme hatred on his face. Drondee saw Ulli's skin ripple. He closed his eyes and tried to block his ears as loud screaming filled the air.

          "Die, demon!" Anomen yelled and ran towards Krell. Krell's head turned around. Anomen lashed out, tearing off a scrap of metal off his splint-mail armour. Krell smiled, and picked the warrior up by his head. Anomen struggled to get the hand off him, but Krell's strength was immense. Anomen watched in horror as his hammer floated out of his hand and started smashing his in the side. Unearthly laughter echoed around the room as Anomen was being slowly battered to death by the weapon that at times, he considered his best friend.

          Fell's blade was whipped out. The half-elf sprinted towards Krell. Krell dropped Anomen and Ulli and looked at Fell.

          _"Let me show you something." _He said, _"Just to show you that I really don't need my army."_ Fell stopped. Krell laughed. He swung his two meter-long sword around. It struck a nearby pillar. The meter-think piece of stone crumbled into rubble. With a nod of his head at the crumbled stone, it started to move. Stones linked together with bursts of purple light. Within seconds, a shape rose out of the rubble. A man. His skin was entirely made out of stone. It growled and froze. With another nod of Krell's head, it started moving forwards.

          _"There are too many of you for me to kill at the same time."_ Krell continued, _"This minion should help me."_

          The stone man shambled over to Adolphus fell. The fighter raised his sword. He struck out. He gasped in shock as it rebounded off its rocky hide. The thing stomped forwards, grabbed Fell, and pulled him into a large bear-hug. Drondee could hear ribs snap. He whimpered. All was lost. Krell's strength was too great. He heard the screams off the three most capable fighters of he had ever known.

          Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Scrapey footsteps. Something emerged out of the gloom. It was tiny compared to Krell and the rock-man. It was skeletal. In one arm it clutched a small stringed instrument, in the other, a longsword. Half of its rib-cage was missing. Drondee recognised it instantly – the remains of Faust, the destroyer.

          Krell stopped. Once again Anomen and Ulli crumpled to the ground. The rock-man stopped automatically. Krell turned towards Faust.

          _"Faust. You walk again."_

          _"Yes." _Faust replied, _"I walk again in my bones. And now with my mind. Stop this Krell. Stop now or die."_

Krell laughed, _"No, Faust, no. Now you die." _Krell twitched a finger, and a chair at the table rose. With another nod, it hurtled towards Faust. At the last moment, the skeleton burst to pieces. Krell snarled.

          _"Faust? Show yourself!"_

          There was a large sucking sound and the rock-man burst into life once more. It dropped Adolphus Fell, and moved towards Krell. As it moved, it managed to speak in Faust's voice.

          _"Undeath had provided me a gift as well. Don't think that I am weak. I can posses almost every body."_

The rock-man (who Drondee thought was being controlled by Faust) punched out at  Krell. The undead Lord let it land the punch, laughed at the pitiful results, and lashed out, sending the rock-man back into its crumbled state. Now where it stood, stood Faust's ghost, they had seen it once before.

          _"Krell, you cannot win."_ Faust said.

          Krell roared with anger and sliced out. The ghost of Faust rippled, Drondee heard his cry of pain.

          _"Fine… fine…" _The ghost gasped, _"Krell, you leave me no choice."_ With that, Faust dived into Krell's mouth. Krell suddenly stopped, then started bellowing, he ran around, breaking every single thing there was. The table was destroyed into tiny splinters. Rerhear's armour was crushed. It was like a struggle was happening inside Krell, not around him. Finally, Faust emerged, dragging with him a black ghost. He had clawed hands, and was wailing. It was Krell, all those thousands of years ago. It was Krell's soul and magic. The body suddenly stopped. The two ghosts fought above it. Krell was stronger, but Faust fought with the skill of a true warrior.

          _"Evaders!"_ Faust cried, _"Listen! Destroy his body! He's still inside it, but the thing I'm fighting is his raw power. He's mortal now. Destroy him for the last time!"_

          Ulli, who was lying on the ground , managed to get up, propped up on his axe. Anomen still lay on the ground, blood seeping out of his side. Fell was clutching his chest, moaning.

          "NOW YOU DIE!" Ulli boomed. His axe buried itself in Krell's side. The creature let out a roar of pain. It punched Ulli with its spiked, gauntleted fist. Ulli bled from dozens of cuts but the dwarf kept going. Not sure why the were doing it, Bongo and Drondee rushed in and managed to wedge their blades between Krell's armour. Krell bellowed, steam pouring out of his mouth. But still he fought on. Drondee quickly picked up Fell's sword, it was heavy but the hobbit lodged it inside Krell's chest. Ulli wrenched his axe free and hacked off the undead's sword arm. Still the ghostly fight raged above them. Krell picked up Ulli with his good arm and threw him against the wall with more force than his magic had done. Panicking, Bongo tried to pick up Anomen's warhammer. The thing was immensely heavy but the hobbit raised it above his head. With a squeak, he threw in downwards, smashing Krell in the leg. Krell wildly lashed out, taking the hobbit in the stomach and throwing him five metres into the air. He landed on his back. Drondee groaned. He stood alone. He wrenched out his blade and looked at Krell head on. This was it. Middle Earth was relying on him. Failure was not an option. It was Do or Die.

          He ran around Krell, jamming his blade into him at every available opportunity. Krell didn't stop. He pulled out Fell's blade. Krell roared with pain. The sword was heavy but Drondee could wield it. With one final burst of energy, he jumped up and slashed across Krell's chest. The sword created a gash much larger than any Krell had had before. With a roar, Krell Fell to his knees. Black blood dripping, Krell tried to get up.

          _"Quickly!"_ Faust shouted, _"Banish Krell from this world!"_

          Drondee ran up to Krell. He almost felt pity as he slashed him in the head again and again. Blood flew everywhere, Krell's helmet was wrenched off leaving a face that wore a mask of hatred, Krell's eyes dulled. With a final show of defiance, the undead Lord got up. Drondee drove the blade into his heart. Krell stared at him for a few seconds.

          _"Wha? What… The great Lord Krell… defeated… by a hobbit?"_ And with that, he crashed to the ground. He heard a scream above them. Krell's magic power had faded away, leaving Faust, who seemed to be flickering horribly.

          _"CURSE YOU EVADERS!"_ Krell's voice sounded around the room. _"COURSE YOU, ADOLPHUS FELL! CURSE YOU, ULLI RUNECARVER! CURSE YOU, ANOMEN REDWOOD, CURSE YOU, BONGO TEMPLEWOB! CURSE YOU, DRONDEE TEMPLEWOB!"_ There was a long pause…

          _"CURSE YOU, FAUST!"_

Anomen crawled to his feet. Ulli got up as well. Still clutching his chest, Fell walked over to Krell. Faust floated down to Krell. With his sword, he etched a large white Dwarven rune in the stone next to the defeated creature. The rune read 'Andar' – the prison. The Andar rune turned into a vortex. Faust drove his ghostly sword into the ground, the power created by the weapon drove Krell into the vortex. Suddenly the vortex disappeared. There was silence.

          _"May the fates hold you back, evil one." _Faust spoke. He turned to the evaders.

          _"Evaders." _The ghost said, _"The world owes you a debt that it can never repay. Billions of unknowing people owe you their lives. Thank you. It is time for me to lay myself to rest now. Perhaps not for the last time. Krell's accursed spirit will live on for all eternity. If he arises again, I will be ready. I must leave now. I must find my resting place. Goodbye, and thank you."_

And with that, Faust's bones re-animated, and the ghost flew into them. Faust's skeleton slowly picked up its sword and instrument and walked out of the room, searching for his grave. Ulli bowed his head in respect as the skeleton walked past him.

* * * *

          An hour later the evaders were on the move again. Fell's chest had been bandaged up. He and Ulli carried Anomen. Bongo and Drondee led the way. Occasionally they passed lifeless skeletons, doubtless killed by Krell's death. Another hour on, the entire group stopped. They had seen something. Something glittering. It came from one of the rooms off to the side. It was flanked by two skeletal warriors in black armour not unlike Rerhear's, even in death, they gripped their halberds. Whatever was in the room, it was valuable to be have been guarded by the elite undead. The Evaders walked in and gasped in shock.

          At the back of the room sat a large sarcophagus. Another two black-armoured skeletons stood lifelessly by it. It was massive, made of obsidian and had more runes carved into it.

          "Orot Faust Orot hir, Ander Krell horte. In your words, that would mean, 'The Destroyer, the great evil, may this be forever Krell's prison – It looks like we've stumbled upon his resting place." Ulli said grimly.

          Behind the sarcophagus, stood another skeleton, it was larger that the others, it held a scythe and had four arms. Drondee knew this – it was a mutation that often happened to insanely evil men. This was the skeleton of a Thassaloss – A man that was granted two extra arms and immense strength. To many it was a blessing, but to some, having their body structure changed, as well as two arms shooting upwards through their skin gave them a life of agony. The skeleton of a Thassaloss would've been the ideal final obstacle for any willing to destroy the remains of Krell. However, now it was useless. Krell's death had killed off every one of his undead minions. The hobbit walked up to the mutated skeleton. Even in death, it appeared to grin back at him. He walked colder to it and stepped on something. He jumped up and cried out in shock. Hidden by the sarcophagus was another body, judging by the dark, bleached bones it had, it was just one hundred years dead. It had on it silvery armour and one of the finest swords that Drondee had ever seen. It was not much larger than his own, but was fashioned in such an expert way that it didn't matter. It was smooth elven metal, with small pictures of dragons all the way up the hilt of the weapon. In its other clenched fist the skeleton held a scrap of paper. Drondee gingerly picked it up and opened it, he fought down the urge to wretch as it was hastily written with a quill pen, but in a crackly, reddish-brown substance – the dried remains of blood. Shuddering, he read it out aloud.

          "Friend, my quest to destroy the evil one has failed. The Thassaloss guardian has left me for dead. Whoever you are, I implore you to eliminate Krell, you may take my sword to aid you. Inside my pack you will find the orb of dragonkind, use it on any large creatures you may encounter. Around my neck lies the talisman of Loth. You will know what to do when you get it. Good luck, I hope th"

          Drondee stopped. The massage trailed off. Drondee shivered. This man had died of blood loss. The Thassaloss saw no point in wasting energy giving him a quick death. There was no ink, so the Paladin warrior had used his own blood. Nearby the body there lay a smallish stick which may once have been a quill feather. Ulli bowed his head again. Fell stepped forward, and, still clutching his chest in one hand, searched his tattered bag with another. He pulled out something and grinned.

          It looked like a large golden egg. Drondee wasn't sure exactly how it fought large monsters, but it defiantly looked nice. Quivering, he pulled a chain the was around the man's neck, he could see a talisman poking out of the top. When he pulled the whole thing out, something happened.

          A massive beam of light burst out, it illuminated the entire room, the Evaders shielded their eyes to avoid themselves going blind, this was light that was brighter than anything that they had ever seen before. He quickly draped it over his neck and under his shirt. Now they realised what caused the glittering in the room. He grabbed the sword. They could now see a door at the end of the room, lit up by the glow from the muted talisman. Ulli walked up to the door, kicking the Thassaloss skeleton over as he went past it. The thing clattered to the floor. The Dwarf undid the latch on the door, and stepped through.

          It was like seeing heaven. They all stepped out to find that it was the outside wilderness, snow blew around, and it was icily cold, but they were alive. In his agonised state, Anomen managed a wry smile. They were alive.

END OF PART V 

            Ah well, so ends that part of my fic, it will continue, but no more undead for a while. Thanks for reading.


	6. Circle of the Moon

Ok, chapter 6. I really have to try on this one.

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.

Dedication: To good ol' Sean – funny bloke.

Greater Evasion

Part VI, Circle of the Moon 

"It was a time of darkness. Unthinkably, we had destroyed Krell – One of Soaron's greatest fighters. However the ring of the Dark Lord remained whole as far as we knew. We had lost both the trail of the Fellowship and our own way. We still thought ourselves to be in the land of Mordor, but our opinions changed once we came across the Friendly Arm Inn. However, our experiences there proved that we were defiantly not far from the accursed land."

From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.

          Ulli Runecarver growled as they entered the forest. Their victory over Krell and their new equipment from the skeleton of the paladin had done nothing to sooth his anger over the last fifteen hours of their travelling. It was about twenty-four hours ago that they had entered the cave of Krell, and the twenty of those hours that he had been not only awake but thrown across rooms and slashed countless times and it had made him a very angry Dwarf.

          "Trees." He snarled as they went deeper into the wood. "Just like elves, they make me want to axe them all… No offence meant friend." He nodded over at Adolphus Fell. The half-Elven warrior, who was walking steadily despite his broken ribs. He rubbed his bandaged chest and glared over at Ulli.

          "None taken, since I'm not an elf!" His elven half of his family made him very shameful, and he hated being called an elf. Ulli's response was harsh laughter. He kicked a tree.

          "They harbour things, trees do. There's always a goblin up one of 'em. There would be an orc if the damn things could go out in the day. Why can't the scum show themselves instead of cowering away? Its dark hobbit. We need light."

          Drondee Templewob nodded. He fished out the talisman of Loth from his shirt. Immediately a bright beam of light burst out of it. There was a path through the forest of sorts. The thing was so minute that they needed the light to see it.

* * * *

            Anomen Redwood shielded his eyes from the talisman's angry glare. The thing was bright, in many ways, too bright. But he was glad of it, only a fool would wander the woods at night, even with companions. It was a beautiful night though. The stars were out, the moon was full…

          Anomen stopped. It had to be a trick of the talisman's light. It had to be. Not this night. No. Any night but this night.

          "Drondee." He said quietly, "Stop the light for a second."

          Moved by the seriousness of his voice. Drondee stopped and put his hand over the light. Anomen looked up again, it wasn't a trick of the light. It was real.

          Shekkla's moon.

          The Evaders all stopped now and looked up at it. It was said that during the rise of Soaron, he had many advisors and Commanders. Many, like Krell, managed to die in secret so that they could once again rise, but there was one that couldn't do that. His name was Shekkla. Legend has it that Shekkla was Soaron's  greatest sorcerer. When the Alliance defeated Soaron, Shekkla still defiantly stood firmly with the ranks of evil. Ten of the finest elven mages duelled him. Such was Shekkla's power that all were killed, but in death, their power was made whole and with their dying breaths they banished Shekkla from Middle Earth. They banished his soul to the moon. Defeated and broken, Shekkla put one final curse on the world. Once every year, when the moon was full, he would return to command the forces of evil for one night. Each year, once a night the dead roam, goblins and orcs amass and magic mutates many that venture out on the night. Tonight was Shekkla's moon.

          The moon was a deep red, and there was clearly a face on it, leering down, grinning. It was said that Shekkla's power was still so great, it managed to look at everyone in the same time. Anomen remembered when he first saw it when he was five. He remembered the shock he saw, seeing the moon cackle and grin at him, he remembered shivering uncontrollably before his father bundled him into the family cellar for the night. He never saw it again, he was always hiding when it came up until when it came down. It was a chilling reminder to see it now.

          "There!" Bongo Templewob suddenly shouted. The terror was apparent in his voice. "There! We can stay there until the moon has died for another year!"

          Anomen gasped. There were lights about three hundred metres away. Could it really be civilization? In the middle of Mordor? He thought again. Most likely they were just on Mordor's outskirts, they had gone far underground. As they got closer to the lights, they saw that it was a tavern. The Evaders cheered. A place to sleep safely. Finally. Although you were never safe on Shekkla's Moon. A sign above the Tavern read 'Friendly Arm Inn.' Ulli walked up, music and laughing could be heard from inside. He bashed on the closed door. The talking stopped.

          A little slit above the door opened, two eyes peeped out.

          "Who seeks refuge on this of all nights? State your allegiance."

          Anomen sighed, nobody could be trusted on Shekkla's Moon so he couldn't see why they should be an exception. He stepped forward.

          "Please, we are travellers seeking a bed for the night away from the glare of the demon sorcerer." He almost smiled, Shekkla was no Demon, but it sounded dramatic. He looked behind him, Shekkla's face was grinning back at him with a slightly offended look, it obviously didn't want to be called a Demon. Anomen heard a heavy latch on the door be removed. It opened. The Evaders rushed in. The door closed behind them. A fat man replaced the plank on the door. The noise in the tavern started up again. Brawls and drinking contests were re-started.

          Feeling warm and happy, the Evaders split up. Bongo and Drondee went off on their own, Fell went over to sit with some other adventurer-type people with Anomen, and Ulli stomped over to a group of Dwarfs and within the minute started an arm-wrestle.

* * * *

          Adolphus Fell sat down on a chair on the same table as a group of adventurers, Anomen sat next to him. The group looked up and smiled. They seemed to be made up of two human warriors, decked out in dull armour, an old man that looked like a wizard and another person who had a large black cloak on, a scar running down his right cheek. He looked to be the most experienced.

          "Welcome strangers." The cloaked man smiled, "My name is Ajantis. I lead my group here. This is Crozus, a good wizard, this is Guant, and this is Tzaftar."

          "My name is Adolphus Fell, this is my companion Anomen Redwood. We are part of a group known as the Evaders."

          "Small group." Ajantis said.

          "There are five of us in total." Anomen smiled. "However. We are lost. Friend, could you tell us where we are?"

          The man's grin faded. "Here is not a good place to be lost. You are on the outskirts of Mordor. The accursed land lies only a kilometre from here. This Inn marks the end of civilization. Warriors gather here to seek fortunes in the land of Mordor. Including myself and my companions."

          "Thank you." Fell said. "But why are you right next to Mordor? On Shekkla's Moon?"

          "We had no idea that tonight Shekkla would watch Middle Earth." Ajantis said. By the time it became clear it was too late, it is ten miles back to the nearest settlement – Snifflibrin, a Dwarven Village. The Inn has seen combat on Shekkla's Moon before, but we are well prepared." Anomen assumed that weapons lay under the man's cloak.

* * * *

          Suddenly, there was a sound from outside. Laughter, mad, howling, Echoey laughter. A sneering voice shouted:

          _"Good Lord, a gathering! My, this will be fun."_ The voice stopped talking and started laughing again. Anomen pepped out through a crack in the freshly boarded window. His blood ran cold.

          It was the moon.

          Shekkla's face in the moon was laughing and taunting them. It seemed to glow brighter. Anomen swiftly looked away. The Inn was in uproar, men had jumped up and had seized their weapons. Bar stools had been shoved up against the door. The Innkeeper ran around shouting orders. He carried a large pitchfork. Anomen drew his weapon, wincing at the pain in his side that it gave him – he was still not healed. Ajantis had kicked over the table and his group crouched behind it. The man drew out a wickedly sharp blade and a crossbolt pistol.

          A crossbolt pistol was a new and expensive contraption. Basically it was a very small handheld crossbow. It fired bolts not much larger than twigs, but they were sharper than pins. It was a favourite weapon of assassins due to its size, and, although it wasn't usually powerful enough to be fatal, in the hands of an expert the bolt could easily go through somebody's head.

          The wizard, Crozus closed his eyes and bowed his head. His staff began to glow. After about a minute he looked up again. Now there was silence. In a cool voice he said.

          "Moon Demons. Shekkla's hordes."

          As in response to this, a loud screeching suddenly came from outside. Anomen had absolutely no idea how powerful Moon Demons were but it seemed that they were going to find out.

          However, the screeching, though chilling, was too high to be coming from a large Demon, although the amount of voices that he could hear made his heart fall as soon as it had risen. To think that amongst other things, these creatures roamed the entire of Middle Earth was a horrifying prospect.

          Silence again.

          Adolphus Fell looked down at his hands. They were sweating. Sweating with tension and fear of the fight ahead. The noises outside had stopped for ten minutes now, why weren't they showing themselves? Why?

          Another five minutes passed.

          Suddenly there was a small scratching sound coming from one of the boarded up windows. A faint snuffling noise came with it. Fell jumped. Ajantis closed one eye and levelled his crossbolt pistol at the sound. It stopped. Silence resumed.

          Then, without warning, half of the boards on the windows were smashed open. The screeching resumed. Shekkla's howling laughter resumed in the background. Screams erupted around the Inn as the moon Demons clawed their way into the building.

          Anomen's thoughts on them had been correct. They were small, about the size- of a five-year old. They were roughly reptilian in shape, with two scrawny arms and two lanky legs. On their backs were two large wings, resembling dragons wings. Their eyes glowed red. Their blood – Ichor and brimstone – their life essence , dripped from their fangs. They hissed and screeched uncontrollably.

          The occupants of the Inn rushed forward to meet them. Swords and arrows flew from one direction, from another, talons and fangs swished across the fighters. Man fought Demon and Demon fought man. Steaming Ichor mingled with red blood. Screams burst out as claws ripped at chests. Hisses of confusion rang round the room as blades tore off demonic limbs. Shekkla had obvious interest in this particular fight to have put so many creatures against the warriors. Or maybe it was the magic generated from the land of Mordor which had helped the summoning of the creatures.

* * * *

          Adolphus Fell cried out in pain as a razor-sharp claw gashed him in the side. He sliced out with his sword, taking off the demon's hand. Ichor hit his arm. It was mildly corrosive but no more than hot water was. Stopping his blade, he rammed it upwards, up through the demon's mouth. The creature howled as its summoning came to an end. After a few seconds, the creature had gone back to its demonic plane, leaving only a shrivelled husk. Another one came at him. He didn't have time to react. Paralyzed with shock. He watched the creatures flashing teeth get nearer and nearer.

          A small bolt suddenly lodged itself in its head. The Demon shrivelled up and died. Fell looked over and nodded his thanks to Ajantis for saving his life with his calm accuracy with his crossbolt pistol.

          However the battle was going badly. Dead men littered the ground. Demons poured down from upstairs. Fell needed some help. He suddenly saw Drondee the hobbit. Him and his brother Bongo were standing back-to-back, fighting the creatures of the night. In one hand, Drondee was stabbing out with his newly-acquired magical short-sword. In the other he was directing the light beam from the talisman of Loth at the Demons. The bright, holy light made the demons squawk with pain. They covered their eyes from it but the radiant light seemed to be making their Ichor boil. He noticed one demons fingertips pop and boiling, bubbling Ichor shot out. He wished he had an item like…

          He stopped. He had something. Quickly he dived under a table. He noticed another man lying down under it. He quickly told the man to move, as it was important. When he did not he shoved the man. He fought back the desire to wretch as he realised that the man only had half a face. He clambered under the table and fumbled inside his backpack. He laughed out in joy and pulled it out. The Orb of Dragonkind. He jumped on the overturned table, dodging the flying head of Crozus the wizard, wearing a confused look on his face. Blood hit the table. Fell suddenly felt sick, he had no idea what to do next. Regardless, he held up the orb and shouted.

          "Um… Begone, foul demons… er… go away Shekkla… or suffer the wrath of… er…" He looked over at the hobbit and his talisman, "Of Dron… no… of… of LOTH!" He didn't expect anything to happen.

          But something did.

          The man that he had found the orb off was, unknown to him, the Paladin Veadecka, one of the high priests of a long-forgotten God, Loth. The name of this God was enough to make the orb work.

          The orb glowed brightly. Light flared out of it and into the night sky. The light formed into the shape of a dragon. Fell saw the moon's leering face turn into a look of horror as the light-dragon dived down. It was so large that it didn't even fit completely into the Friendly Arm Inn, but it covered the inside with a radiant glow. The Moon Demons doubled up in agony. They screeched loudly, clawing at their flesh as it appeared to melt off them. This continued for about five minutes.

          Suddenly, silence resumed.

          Fell looked outside. Daylight. Shekkla's face had disappeared from the moon. It was back to normal. Aside from the burns on the floor where the Ichor had struck it, there was no trace of the Moon Demons.

          But the Inn was ruined.

          Dead men littered the floor. Blood soaked the tables. Splinters of wood lay around the tavern. Arrows were stuck in the walls. Flagons of ale were everywhere. Overturned. The boards on the wall were completely ripped out. Much of the wall had been clawed. Fell jumped as a human body fell tumbled down from upstairs, his chest was slashed open almost beyond recognition. Blood stained the stairs behind him.

          "Damn you." Adolphus Fell said quietly to the moon. "Damn you."

* * * *

     An hour later, a large pyre burned outside. The survivors of the attack heaped bodies on it. The fat innkeeper was trying to clean up his in as best he could. He had patched up most of the holes in the wall with wood, vaguely mumbling something about temporary repairs. Most of his tables and chairs were either hacked up beyond use or too blood-stained to ever use, so they went too. At the moment he was trying to shave the burns and steins off his floorboards. Ulli Runecarver stood silently at the door of the Inn, axe still in hand.

     Fell saw Ajantis standing motionlessly next to the pyre. He walked up to him. He noticed that the man was staring at three bodies on it. One a headless corpse. The bodies of Gaunt, who had his body almost turned inside-out when it was swamped by the Moon Demons, Tzaftar, who survived the attack, but not with any of his limbs. He died of blood loss. And the body of the wizard Crozus, who's head had been ripped off by the Demons. Ajantis turned to meet him.

     "A waste." He said sadly, "I had known them for… a long time…" He turned away, his head bowed. Fell put his arm on his shoulder.

     "Don't worry." He said. "They fought bravely." Ajantis turned to meet him. He smiled faintly, then his smile contorted into a look of rage and he howled out the worst group of swear words at the moon that the half-elf had ever heard. Ulli Runecarver walked up to him.

     "What happens now friend?" The Dwarf said.

     "I don't know…" Ajantis said. "There's nothing left."

     "Well don't just sit there!" Ulli boomed, "I greatly respect skill. Come along with us!" Ajantis' face brightened slightly.

     "Well, what do you lot do?" He asked, "Treasure hunters? Dragonslayers? Bandits?" Anomen and the hobbits walked up to the Dwarf, the half-elf and the ruined man.

     "Let's say… a bit of an important mission. We wouldn't mind the help."

     "What sort of mission?" Ajantis was smiling again.

     "Let me tell you." Ulli said, and led Ajantis away.

* * * *

     Half an hour later, Ajantis returned. He was defiantly smiling now.

     "Well." He began, "Looks like I've landed myself in it. I can't imagine how the hell you lot got into this mess, but it'd be my honour to help however I can. You can count me in."

     "Ajantis here is one of those people who prefer stealth to front-on conflict." Ulli said, "He can pick pockets and locks and disarm traps. I think that he will be an invaluable asset to us."

     Everyone else agreed.

* * * *

Later on the Evaders left the Friendly Arm Inn. Thanking them for their help, the Innkeeper waved them off. Ajantis pulled out his map and soon they were back in Mordor, on the tail of the Fellowship of The Ring.

          Ulli Runecarver liked the beer at that Tavern. Weak as human beer was, he undeniably liked it. He made a mental vow that he would return to the Friendly Arm Inn. Cursed Ring or no Cursed Ring. Nothing would hold him back.

END OF PART VI

          I liked that chapter. Hope you did as well, I think I'll start on another one, perhaps not so ultra-violent, but I can't help it. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review. Bye!


	7. Death's messanger

Ok, chapter 7. I'm not sure if this fic is my best ever, but I really enjoy writing this one more than any of the others. I'd like to thank everyone whose reviewed the fic (a special thanks goes out to TH, Kitty-Chan and Charles 'RocketBoy' Riley) it hasn't exactly reached the heights of such classics like 'Pendent of Eternity' or 'Dude, where's my ring?' But I'm really surprised at how many reviews I've got and I'd like to thank everyone whose left a comment. Thanks.

Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here it is. R&R please, thanks.

Dedication: To Ayla (merriadoc from hobbiton on ff.net) great friend

Greater Evasion

Part VII, Death's messenger 

"Mordor was a strange place indeed. Much of it was wasteland, some of it snow-bound mountains, some of it rolling plains, some of it lush forests. However, we had approached from an entirely different side altogether. We had arrived in the blacksand desert, an area on the outskirts of Mordor. And the figure that we encountered in the desert was so subtly terrifying it makes my blood run cold just to think about it."

From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.

          The Evaders were back in the lands of Mordor. According to the new recruit Ajantis' map, they had entered an isolated part of it known as the blacksand desert. The desert was mostly unknown and completely uncharted, the map ended where it started, there was just an arrow, pointing upwards, that read 'blacksand desert, don't go here.' Ajantis was a secretive man, but he held back more than usual when asked where he got such a map from.

          "No." He said again.

          "Go on Ajantis." Anomen Redwood said impatiently, "It's a good map, tell us where you got it."

          "Found it." The man replied stiffly.

          "A map of Mordor?"

          "Found it… found it second-hand… it was preowned…" Ajantis replied vaguely. He pulled the hood of his black cape further over his face.

          "Preowned eh?" Anomen said, a wry smile breaking out of your face. "You stole it."

          Ajantis started mumbling. Anomen laughed and clapped his friend on the back.

          "Well, I don't give a damn about how you got it. It's a useful thing, and I think that our need is greater than the need of its previous owners."

          Ajantis mumbled again.

          But the map stopped. At the place where they were. This was the blacksand desert, so named for its dark grey sand, possibly originally volcanic rock from the volcano at the centre of Mordor. Dune after Dune of it lay before them. The sun beat down hard. There was no end to the legions of sand.

* * * *

     Drondee Templewob hobbled along behind the larger members of the Evaders. It was boiling, his chainmail vest burned into him, as did his magical shortsword. He took a long swig from his water-flask, it felt like new life was flowing into him and the liquid gushed down his throat. He clambered up a sand dune. Almost slipping back down again, a squeak behind him indicated that his brother Bongo had slipped down it. The fallen hobbit got up and crawled up the Dune.

     Drondee looked out onto the horizon. Sand. Sand for miles and miles. No trees, no plants, not even any bones, just sand. Drondee felt his vision cloud up, he collapsed and rolled down the dune.

     When he came to, he found himself bouncing up and down on the enormous shoulders of Ulli Runecarver. The dwarf had a solemn expression on his face. Drondee tried to wipe his brow. It was drenched in sweat. His hand slid off his forehead and he fell back into unconsciousness.

* * * *

     Ulli Runecarver was worried. There seemed no end to the sand that was laid out before them. One of their members was already down. They needed shelter from the blistering heat. Fast. Suddenly Bongo the Hobbit cried out.

     "Hey. What's that?"

     "What?" Ulli grumbled.

     "That! That over there!" He pointed. Ulli looked over, what he saw made him drop Drondee, the hobbit hit the sand with a low 'thunk'. Ulli was so surprised he didn't bother to pick the hobbit up.

     It was a city.

     From the distance he couldn't see if it was inhabited or not, but there was no point in ignoring it. The Dwarf picked up the hobbit and led the group over to the city.

     Half an hour later, they had arrived. There was no doubt about the fact that it was a city. Towers poked over the top of the large city walls. A closed gate stood in front of them, blocking them entry. The Dwarf walked up to it.

     "HEY!" He shouted, "IS ANYONE THERE?"

     No answer. His voice echoed over the walls and around the empty city.

     "IS ANYONE THERE?" Ulli shouted again. Nothing.

     "IF NOBODY ANSWERS I'M GOING TO BREAK THIS DAMN THING DOWN!" The Dwarf shouted again. Still nothing.

     "LISTEN!" Adolphus Fell, the half-elf, suddenly shouted, "MY FRIEND HERE HAS A VERY LARGE AXE AND A VERY SHORT TEMPER! IF YOU VALUE YOUR NICE DOOR I SUGGEST YOU ANSWER!"

No sound.

     "Right, that's it." Ulli boomed, "I'm going in." He stepped forward and rammed his axe into the lock in the centre of the gate. It shattered easily. With a roar of triumph, the dwarf shoved the door open. It swung open easily. But Ulli's look of triumph turned to one of surprise.

     Right behind the door a creature stood, patiently waiting for him silently. With a hiss it swished an axe that it was holding down at Ulli. The Dwarf grunted in pain as the blade bit into his shoulder. Drawing his sword, Fell rushed forward. He easily parried the enemy's swipe, and in turn the creature hooked his axe under Fell's sword, blocking his counter-strike, in desperation, Fell put in some follow-through, taking the axe out of the thing's slimy hands, it flew off and buried itself in the now destroyed gate. The monster jumped at Fell, but the half-elf calmly stuck his sword in the thing's neck. Black blood gushing out, the creature gurgled as it died.

     All this happened in the space of about ten seconds. Anomen walked up to the dead creature. At a distance, it could've been mistaken for a human. It had two arms, a torso and a head, its top half of its body was decked out in dull armour. However, it was far from human. Its entire body was covered in scales, it had no legs, just a large snake-like lower body, a serpent's face blankly stared out from the helmet it wore. Half-man, half-snake. A deadly opponent. Ulli snarled at the body.

     "A mutation." He spat, "The magic of Mordor has done this. I expect that…"

     He suddenly stopped as an ear-piercing shriek tore out from the empty streets of the city. The more the Evaders listened, the louder and clearer it became.

     "NOOOO! PLEASE, PLEASE! I'M A RICH MAN, I'LL GIVE YOU IT ALL! ALL OF IT! PLEASE! NO!"

     In the distance, perhaps a few hundred metres away, a figure suddenly ran out of a far off building. The man stumbled and fell. Another figure slowly walked out of the building. As far as the Evaders could see, the stricken man started backing away from the other person, but he seemed wounded, drained. He stopped. The other man walked over to him, and bent down. Wild screaming filled the air.

     "Come on!" Ulli roared, and ran off towards the two people as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. He pulled his double-edged battleaxe out from its back-strap. The rest of the Evaders (except Drondee, who was still down on the sand) sprinted after him.

     As they got near, the figure bent over the other one suddenly stood up again, and walked calmly into one of the ancient buildings that were on the street.

     "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Ulli bellowed, he jumped over the still writhing man and leapt into the building. Adolphus Fell and Ajantis followed him. Anomen and Bongo ran up to the stricken fighter.

* * * *

     Ajantis ran up to the wounded person with Anomen. He gasped when he realised that the man, although he looked young from the distance that they originally saw him, he now looked incredibly old, at least over one hundred years old. The man wore ornate armour, but seemed too weak to be able to stand up in it.

     "What did the man do to you?" Ajantis asked hastily. The man looked sadly up at him.

     "He robbed me of my life."

     "But your still alive, did the man hurt you?" The response was harsh laughter.

"Did the _man _hurt me? Could you call it a man? It didn't hurt me… no… but…" The man gritted his teeth, he was dying, "But… it robbed me of… of my years of life… seeing its symbol summoned it… it… makes you age… too quickly… too much…" With a final burst of strength, the man grabbed Ajantis' long black cloak. "It… if you see it… beware… these letters… D… E…" The man coughed loudly, "A… T… H… Beware the symbols… beware the… messenger…" The man's fingers dug deep into Ajantis' cloak. His entire body went rigid. His eyes stared blankly into space. Ajantis prised the man's dead hand off his cloak.

          "What was all that?" He said to Anomen and Bongo.

          "Well, whatever killed him wasn't human, and it did have a large amount of magical powers." Anomen replied.

          "Well, that might help." Bongo said, nodding to a small leather-bound book that was lying on the sand next to the man's body. Gingerly the hobbit bent down and picked it up. "It's a diary. It should be the missing piece of the puzzle. He turned to the back pages and read aloud.

_Ulrich told me that we'd be rich. That we'd be famous. That we'd have enough power and wealth to conquer half of Middle Earth. Now I took at him, face down in the sand with a hole in his back that was created with one of the sharpest axes ever made. I don't know where that overgrown snake-warrior got to, but if I see it I swear by the Gods that I'll send it back into the pit for killing my friend._

_Ulrich had told me that he was going to plunder the lost city of Vatos. Legend has it that it was abandoned since before Sauron. Gold and gems said to be worth enough to hire an army to conquer the world was said to rest inside it. We found Vatos, but the guardian proved too much for my friend. If there are any more they'll have to get past me._

          Bongo looked up, "It ends there." He said. Our friend didn't write anything that might help us.

          "Not so." Ajantis said, rubbing his hands with joy. "Did you hear that? All that money. All that gold."

          Anomen smiled, "Well, I don't think that we'll achieve much by just waiting around out here. Come on, let's go." They walked up to the building which Ulli and Fell had leapt into. Just at the entrance. Anomen stopped and smiled again. "Vatos." He said. He shook his head and walked in, turning left down a two-way passage with Ajantis and Bongo, wondering if Ulli and Fell had destroyed 'the messenger' yet.

          Inside the building it was a lot colder than the heat of the main square of Vatos. And that could only be good. It was dark, but Anomen could see what lay ahead of him. They were walking through a thin, tall corridor. It was a moist place, with gargoyles leering down from the ceiling. It was also a very long passage. Anomen was beginning to believe that Vatos was just one huge building.

          A thudding sound ahead made his put his hand on the hilt of his warhammer. Ajantis heard the sound as well and in the blink on an eye whipped out his palm-sized crossbolt pistol. His other hand reached inside his cloak, Anomen knew that it was gripping his concealed short-sword, one of the sharpest weapons that he had ever seen in his life. He relaxed as Ulli Runecarver burst out from the gloom ahead of him, closely followed by Adolphus Fell. Ulli looked furious.

          "Bastard got away!" He panted, "He just disappeared!"

Fell nodded, "Yeah, I dunno where he went. We were faster than him, no way he could've just gone like that."

          "No way that _it _could've just got away, you mean." Ajantis said gravely, he told Ulli and Fell what they had learnt.

          "Hell's maw, that killer's something." Ulli said in disbelief. "Just think, if I could find it, it would surely suffer! Its dark. Hobbit, we need the light of your talisman."

          No answer.

          "Drondee, we need the light that your talisman gives us." Anomen said impatiently. "Drondee? Where are you?"

          The entire group suddenly froze.

          "Ah…"

* * * *

     Drondee Templewob opened his eyes. He must be dreaming, or dead. The shattered gates of a city lay before him. He clambered up to his feet, burning sand bit into him. It hurt a lot. He wasn't dead, or dreaming. He staggered inside the city.

     "Ulli?" He shouted in a voice that betrayed his fear. "Adolphus? Anomen? Bongo? Ajantis?"

     No answer. Drondee took a large swig from his water flask. He spat out half of it when he trod on something squishy. He looked down. Black blood stained the black sand. It was a newly dead body of what looked like a giant armoured snake. Shuddering, he followed the footprints that he saw walking up through the city. He shook his head as he walked up to another dead body, this one of an immensely old man. He noticed footprints leading into a nearby building. He hobbled in. Noticing that there were two ways to go, he turned right.

     Ten minutes later, Drondee was beginning to feel that he made the wrong choice of direction, water dripped from the ceiling down his back. It was getting progressively darker. With a sudden flash of inspiration, he reached in his shirt to take out the talisman of Loth. He stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Something was not right. He reached into his shirt again, and suddenly felt a light tap on his shoulder. He jumped, and turned around.

     "There you are, I didn't think that I would ever find y…"

     He stopped as he saw the figure that had touched his shoulder. It wasn't any of the Evaders, he doubted that it was human.

     It resembled a thin bald old man. It had no eyes, just empty sockets, and nothing in its mouth, no teeth, gums or even a tongue. It lightly leant forward and in a gurgling voice, whispered a word in his ear.

     _"Death."_

     The way in which the creature had said the word made Drondee stagger back in shock. He blinked and when he next looked. It was gone.

     The hobbit tried to remember what on Earth that thing was. It might've been just a crazy old man with no eyes, but it seemed…

     No

     Drondee's blood turned to ice. He wished now that he had never read the book in the shire that belonged to Sam Gamgee – 'Sauron's Advisors and assassins.' Sauron had all kinds of Helpers at his command. The wizard Shekkla, the warrior Krell. There were many, but one had always piqued his interest.

     Nobody knew if it was human. Perhaps it once had been, but Sauron had used the creature for amusement. In return for its services, he granted it leadership over one of his cities – Vatos. Perhaps that was where he was now. It had no name, as it could only say one word, the word that it had just said to Drondee. Due to this, those that survived contact with it gave it a simple name.

     The messenger of Death.

     The messenger of Death was a killer that detested victory by brute strength. It far preferred making an opponent use its intelligence to survive, not its strength.

     A death by the messenger was a long drawn-out one. It induced none other than head-shattering terror into the hearts of the victims. The messenger would play a sadistic 'game' with its victim. Firstly, it would whisper the word 'death' in the ear of the victim. Then it would move ahead of them and place the letters D, E, A, T and H somewhere in concealed places; like in boxes, or scratched in on windows. If the victim saw every one of these letters, then the messenger would reappear and kill by adding one hundred years onto the life of the victim. Even if the victim didn't see all of the letters, fear would prove more than a distraction to them, especially if they were looking for something, it would be off-putting to say the least if a man was looking for a small artefact and looked in a chest, only to find a letter etched into the side of it. Drondee prayed that he wouldn't suffer the same fate as many others who lost the game of Soaron's greatest assassin.

     He had to get out.

     Away from the messenger's distorted game.

     He started back across the tunnel. He heard footsteps fast approaching him. With a nightmarish vision of it being a 'D' on legs running to get him, the Hobbit looked around for an exit. As luck would have it, he saw a circular grill just a few metres along the corridor. Sunlight peeped out from it. The Hobbit ran over to it. Some of the bars were even bent to form a small opening. He smiled, it was a tiny gap, but it was a start. He clambered up and his face turned white as he realised that his luck may well have run out.

     He could see why the bars were bent.

     Many of them were missing, the only pieces of metal left in the centre of the grill was a long, vertical bar, and one welded to it, but slightly to a banana shape.

Unmistakably, it was a metal 'D'

END OF PART VII

Hmm, that's a 'to be continued' ending I think. I'm not sure I really liked that chapter much though, but let's hope the second episode of this part of my fic is better. Don't worry, the 'Vatos' part of my fic won't be four chapters long, like my 'Krell' one. Hopefully the Evaders will be safely out of Vatos by the end of chapter VIII. Anyway, try to review. Thanks for reading.


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